Tax
Corporate tax from 2023, VAT from 2018, still no personal income tax
The UAE introduced a nine per cent federal corporate tax for financial years starting on or after 1 June 2023. There is still no personal income tax.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Federal Tax Authority. Disputes go to the Tax Disputes Resolution Committee and then to the federal courts.
- Deadline — 9 months after the end of the tax period to file a corporate tax return
- Deadline — 28 days after the tax period to file a VAT return
Governing law
- Corporate Tax Law, Federal Decree-Law 47 of 2022 — 9% above AED 375,000
- VAT Law, Federal Decree-Law 8 of 2017 — 5%
- Economic Substance Regulations 2019
- Excise Tax Law, Federal Decree-Law 7 of 2017
In practice
Corporate tax ended the UAE's position as a genuinely zero-tax jurisdiction for business and any advice or planning material predating 2023 is unreliable on the central point. The nine per cent rate applies above a threshold of AED 375,000. Qualifying free zone persons can retain a zero per cent rate on qualifying income, but this is a conditional regime with substance and activity requirements rather than a blanket free zone exemption, and treating it as automatic is a common and expensive error. Economic substance and country-by-country reporting obligations run alongside. Personal income remains untaxed, which is why the corporate change did not alter the position of individual residents.